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Try this easy to make cranberry sauce

My friend Donna Britt used to host a radio show on Country 99.7, The Mountain, here in central Oregon, and she featured a recipe every day during the noon hour. For a while, I was fortunate to be a guest on her show every Tuesday and share one of my recipes. Well, Donna went and hit the big time this past summer. Lifetime Television for Women launched a new radio show and hired Donna to host it. Not surprisingly, it's called the Lifetime Radio Show and you can hear it locally on Lite 95.1 every morning, Monday through Saturday, from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Donna moved to Nashville, where the show is broadcast. She's from Arkansas, so the move was almost like going home. And the show is wonderful. Along with great music, Donna brings interesting guests on the show every day with all kinds of news and advice we can actually use and understand. And she makes a perfect host. She's one of those people you like instantly. She's warm and natural, and you feel like you've known her forever right after you meet her. I guess that's why her new show is so successful. She makes you feel like you're her best friend or your sister, and listening to her makes you feel good. I have no doubt Donna will bring Lifetime Radio much success and recognition. When she was at The Mountain, she also worked as the Program Director, and last year the station was named one of the top 5 small-market country radio stations in the whole United States. She knows her radio. To top it all off, Donna is a good cook, and she loves to share good recipes. One recipe she featured on her radio show was her Cranberry Sauce, which was included in a cookbook she and Kim Curley, who is also a fantastic cook, wrote while they were at the station. I just had to use the recipe in this week's column. Donna says she adapted it from a recipe by food columnist Jan Roberts-Dominquez, and it's great with ham, pork chops, baked chicken, and of course turkey. Her kids eat it right out of the bowl. She'll probably make it again this holiday, when they all spend Thanksgiving with her granny, for the first time in many years. It truly will be over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house this year for the Britt family. Listen to her show and then email her or call her at Lifetime. Tell her hi from Central Oregon. And be sure to make her Cranberry Sauce this Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving, Crook County. I hope you have lots of turkey, lots of people you love with you and many things for which you're grateful. Sharon Vail lives in Powell Butte, and she's grateful for so many Thanksgiving blessings this year. Readers may contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. "Cooking from the heart of Oregon"

Put cranberries, water and both sugars in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes. The berries should be popping open by then. Turn heat to a low simmer and add the remaining ingredients. Simmer this for hours for the best taste (I think Donna lets it sit at the back of the stove nearly all day) or at least for half an hour. Stir occasionally and feel free to taste and add more spices, port, etc. You can serve it warm, at room temperature or cold. It's great on cold turkey sandwiches! This is so much better than that canned stuff.

Reprinted with permission from Donna Britt and Kim Curley, "The Country Kitchen Cooks Across the USA," copyright 2003.